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A Startup Reading List

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Re: A Startup Reading List

#31

Post by rxl »

solistice wrote: post #26
rxl wrote: post #15

This list, compiled by Chris Johnson, includes a book called "Trust Me, I'm Lying", by Ryan Holiday. One thing to note is that Chris worked with Ryan and has a close relationship with him (Chris actually wrote the trailer for Ryan's book). And judging from Ryan's usual tactics, Chris wrote this list simply to push Ryan's book, which he cleverly included alongside clear classics like The Lean Startup, In The Plex, and…

Ryan Holiday is a genious in his own right. He somehow snuck into the personal circle of Robert Greene, Max Tucker, Tim Feriss. According to Neil Strauss (in an email on his personal newsletter), he was "in" with the former 3 just out of college, helping with research and marketing for Greene and Tucker, and being a guest speaker/organizer for a series of talks organized by Ferriss. I've found half a dozen guest post…

It's perfectly within reason to have respect for him. I have no reason to do otherwise and I actually think he's pretty clever.

I'd just note that being in the personal circles of talented authors is quite different from being a talented author yourself. The book may be good (I haven't read it) - I'm just pointing out that you should be cautious and consider that the hype surrounding the book is artificially inflated.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#32

Post by paul_f »

liquidcool wrote: post #16

I liked Guy Kawasaki's "The Art of the Start" ( http://www.amazon.com/Art-Start-Time-Tested-Battle-Hardened-... ) because every time I picked it up, it motivated me to put it down and get back to work. I am kind of surprised to see Steve Blank's "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" ( http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/098... ) omitted. Is that one that everyone mentions, but nobody reads?

Steve's new book The Startup Owner's Manual being left off this list is criminal.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#33

Post by brentm »

banachtarski wrote: post #10

There is this weird catch 22 where I always hear this book or that book or this or that article is a "must read" for a startup founder. But on the flip side, I also have no time to read it.

Try audiobooks. I use Audible.com, only $14 a month for 1 audiobook per month. The cost to buy the audiobook is almost always greater than $14 and unused credits roll over. I find audiobooks a great option for walking, the car, gym, subway, etc.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#34

Post by Legion »

Reading 24 books seems like an awful lot of time committed to doing something other than actually making a product.

One of the books was marked optional, though, so there's that.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#36

Post by simplimedia »

doublemorph wrote: post #35
beambot wrote: post #12

YC maintains a pretty solid list: http://ycombinator.com/lib.html

It's a pretty large reading list though, would be nice to have a list of the top three to five.

Good point:

IT depends on what you do. I made it for salespeople initially, based on books I'd become familiar with.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#37

Post by simplimedia »

rxl wrote: post #30
simplimedia wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sure wish I was this clever.

Perhaps, but unlikely. And regardless, I know Ryan is. Also, yes, I realize that bad press is good press and that this controversy will probably drive Ryan even more sales, just by virtue of the fact that more people are talking about his book than would have otherwise. And I don't really care either way, I'd just prefer that people be in the know.

So but for you, the folks that read Hacker News would have been fooled by my ruse.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#38

Post by simplimedia »

davidw wrote: post #4

I was not really impressed by Ries' book. I don't feel I got much that was actually practical or useful out of it that I hadn't already gleaned from blogs or sites like HN. It seems more like a high level look at what "lean" is. The book that continues to be the one that has given me the most practical value is "Start Small, Stay Small": http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YH9MMI/?tag=dedasys-20 It is not a "classic" - twen…

And FYI - this was a list made for AEs to be able to talk to engineers more quickly and fluently.

Re: A Startup Reading List

#39

Post by mindcrime »

rxl wrote: post #28
mindcrime wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And judging from Ryan's usual tactics, Chris wrote this list simply to push Ryan's book, which he cleverly included alongside clear classics like The Lean Startup, In The Plex, and The Innovator's Dilemma. Trust Me, I'm Lying just might wind up as a classic itself! OK, I know it's controversial, as is the author, and I get why. But there's some solid stuff in that book. I learned a lot from reading it, and I think th…

Well done, Ryan. Well done.

And I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids...

Re: A Startup Reading List

#40

Post by ryanholiday »

rxl wrote: post #15

This list, compiled by Chris Johnson, includes a book called "Trust Me, I'm Lying", by Ryan Holiday. One thing to note is that Chris worked with Ryan and has a close relationship with him (Chris actually wrote the trailer for Ryan's book). And judging from Ryan's usual tactics, Chris wrote this list simply to push Ryan's book, which he cleverly included alongside clear classics like The Lean Startup, In The Plex, and…

Hi everyone, I wish I was clever enough to have orchestrated all this, but in fact am not. Very nice of Chris to include me in his list.

Though I will say that this list is missing a few good books:

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

48 Laws of Power

Antifragile

The Fish That Ate the Whale

Wikinomics

Contagious

The Pirate's Dilemma

and I think PG's book of essays is worth reading for any founder as well

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